NY firm picked to develop RTA's strategic plan

Company has ties to agency official

The Regional Transportation Authority Board picked a New York-based firm Thursday to develop the agency's first strategic plan in more than a decade.

RTA officials hope the plan, which will be crafted in the next eight to 12 months, will ultimately make the case for more funding for regional mass transit . Among other things, the plan will analyze traffic and demographic trends to determine public transportation needs and also identify duplication of existing services.

The RTA Board unanimously voted to authorize its executive director to negotiate a contract for up to $1.97 million with PB Consult, a subsidiary of Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc., an international engineering, planning and construction management firm.

RTA Executive Director Steve Schlickman worked at Parsons Brinckerhoff as vice president and special assistant for corporate development from 1996 to 1998. On Thursday, he said his connection to the parent company played no role in the selection of PB Consult. He said he disclosed his previous connection to Parsons Brinckerhoff and Aecom Consult, another one of the three finalists.

Schlickman also noted that the RTA was one voice on a four-member selection committee that recommended PB Consult. The other committee members were representatives of the Chicago Transit Authority, Pace and Metra.

RTA Chairman James Reilly defended the pick. "Anybody who has been involved in transit for over 20 to 30 years is going to have been involved either as an employee or as a subcontractor with any firm that's big enough to do this kind of work," Reilly said after the meeting.

Board member Dwight Magalis questioned whether the RTA staff had looked into a publicized dispute in St. Louis involving another Parsons Brinckerhoff subsidiary, Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas, which Schlickman said will have a small role in the development of the RTA plan.

That firm was part of a four-business collaborative that was hired to manage a light rail extension project in the St. Louis suburbs. Metro, the St. Louis area public transportation agency, fired the collaborative in 2004, claiming it had cost the agency millions and delayed the project, according to news reports. The collaborative countersued, saying Metro still owed it $17 million.

Magalis asked RTA staff to fully investigate the facts before finalizing a contract. "I just think we need to be aware of it and check it out," he said.